When I was in college one of my professors brought in a friend who was CEO of a pretty big business. He told the story of his first business – a machine shop in Western PA. It was unionized and he hated the union. So during a downturn he used some legal, procedural tricks to get the union decertified. He then proceeded to change a host of work rules and replace long time union employees with non union help.
Then one night a number of his employees broke into the factory after dark and ‘spiked’ every single machine tool. He went bust.
We were horrified, “what criminals” we said.
He nodded his head but pointed out: “I didn’t play fair with them, I had an opportunity to jam something down their throat and I took it. I humiliated my people and made them hate me. You don’t stay in business if you do that. I was wrong.” His experience made him a much more effective leader and led to significant business success.
Barack Obama is still in his first business. You know, the one that goes bust.
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